homage

I’ve spent no shortage of time with The Shins’ latest album, “Port of Morrow” and after a good two-three weeks of listening I still haven’t decided whether it’s unquestionably amazing or equal parts amazing and maddening. Most of my ire comes from the fact that so many of the songs feel like James Mercer going through his LP collection and stating “Hey, I’ll write a Steely Dan song!” (“Fall of 82”), or “You know, I really loved The Smiths” (“No Way Down”). Now to be fair: It’s not a bad thing that half the album sounds like a homage to great artists of old (after all, there’s a reason those artists’ work stay with us), and if an homage is what we get, at least it’s a damn good approximation of the Dan, The Smiths, Radiohead, etc.

But at the end of the day what I was really looking for was a Shins record, and this doesn’t quite feel like one. That said: By no means should you take the aforementioned statements as a warning away from Port of Morrow. It’s chock full of slick, studio sheen pop (and I’m certainly a sucker for it) with more than a few standout tracks. That said: Much as the album itself feels like an homage, here’s a more-than-a-little Wes Anderson-esque video for the second single “Simple Song” (which has just a ridiculously great chorus).

Storyboard artist Carlos Ramos (who you might know from Dexter’s Labratory, ChalkZone, My Life as a Teenage Robot) has created a series of posters honoring the films of Stanley Kubrick. My favorite is his take on Dr. Strangelove. If you’re planning to be around Santa Monica, CA July 10 through July 31 you can stop by the Copro Gallery to check them out for yourself. The rest of us will just have to make do with these pics.

It’s hardly new, but my love for his movie knows no bounds, and this mashup of the moments involving the clips seen from the “original” Galaxy Quest television show is worth sharing. By Grabthar’s hammer I salute you!

There are mashups and then there are mashups. Jacob Bricca’s “Pure” is “a meditation on genre, a commentary on visual cliches, and a celebration of the visceral pleasures of cinema.” I must admit, it is a little disconcerting how easily all of these shots fit together (though I personally could have done without the music from The Jesus Lizard). Thanks to our pal Eric for the heads up!

I’ve been seeing images for Batman: A XXX Porn Parody around Tumblr for a few days now (you can find more about the project here), and now Vivid has put out a trailer for their upcoming adult version of the classic 60’s TV-show. Don’t worry, it’s safe for work. I’ve got to give them some props with the level of detail put into recreating the look and style of the show.

Since our boy Alex has opened the door to the Scissor Sisters, I figured I couldn’t let any discussion go by without remembering the video that first brought them to my attention: The very Hollywood homage love that is “I Don’t Feel Like Dancing“: